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Furman University Alma Mater and School Songs Collection

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Biographical Sketch

Edwin McNeill Poteat, Jr. (20 Nov. 1892–17 Dec. 1955) was a Baptist clergyman, missionary, college president, and writer, born in New Haven, Conn., the second of eight children of Edwin McNeill and Harriett Hale Gordon Poteat. His father, a Baptist clergyman, was president of Furman University 1903-1918. Following attendance at Furman Fitting School, Poteat entered Furman University, where he received A.B. (1912) and A.M. (1913) degrees. His master's degree in theology was from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1916). He served as president of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. from 1944-1948.

Richard Arthur Collins graduated from Furman 1963 with a BA in Music.

Phillip Michael Grier (31 Aug. 1941 – 10 Aug. 2012) a Georgia native, graduated from Furman University in 1963. Upon graduation from Furman, he served in the U.S. Army (1963-66) as an intelligence officer, primarily stationed at Fort Bragg. He then attended law school at the University of South Carolina, graduating with a JD degree in 1969. Mike practiced law with the Haynsworth law firm in Greenville for one year, then returned to USC where he held several positions in administration including staff counsel, ombudsman for the university, assistant to the president and General Counsel from 1972-1979. He was the first attorney hired as full-time legal counsel at USC. Mike left USC in 1979 to become executive director for the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a position he held until his retirement in 1996. After his retirement, he lived in Lorton, Virginia, until the time of his death.